


Young, Scrappy, and Hungry

by xPhoenix



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Foster Care, Foster kid Alex, Gen, Past Child Abuse, Poor Alex - Freeform, sorry - Freeform, the chapters are short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-18 04:03:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10608900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xPhoenix/pseuds/xPhoenix
Summary: Poor Alexander Hamilton has had a rough life. Coming to America after a hurricane ravaged his homeland, he has endured many hardships. He expects the Washingtons to be like all his other foster homes, but he's about to get proved wrong.Aka another foster kid Alex au**Note: I have not abandoned this, I'm just terrible at updating and I've also been losing interest in the fandom. I'll try to roll an update out every few months, but no guarantees.**





	1. Chapter 1 - Alexander

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [the challenges we're facing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7454740) by [aeoleus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeoleus/pseuds/aeoleus). 



> Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read this. This is my first fic, so I'd appreciate any feedback, positive or negative. This chapter is short, but hopefully the others will be longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2-19-18 - Fixed the spacing :D

"Alexander." He could hear the disappointment in his social worker's voice. "I really hoped you would make this placement last."

"I'm sorry," he muttered, not really meaning it. Adams was a jerk, and Alex had no interest in talking to him.

"Alexander," His social worker, John Adams, warned. "Apologize like you mean it. You're wasting my valuable time, which I should be spending with kids who deserve it, not brats like you."

"He insulted my mother. He deserved every bit of that punch."

"Alexander!" Adams snapped. "This is your last shot. Don't screw this up. The Washingtons are a wonderful couple--"

"You said that about the Kings, and they weren't so wonderful."

Adams stayed silent. Alex shuddered at the thought of that terrible family and their crazy-strict rules. Eventually, they arrived at a long, gated driveway. "We're here. Remember Alexander, Do. Not. Screw. This. Up." 

Alex sighed. Hopefully these "Washingtons" were nice people, or Alex would be stuck in a group home until he graduated high school. Grabbing his tattered backpack from Adams' trunk, Alex stopped and thought about his predicament. 

He'd have to deal with these Washingtons, so he desperately hoped that they were at least tolerable people. Maybe he'd luck out, and they'd be like old Mrs. Swift. She'd just kind of left him alone to do his own thing. But, like everyone else he'd ever cared for in the least bit, she'd died. 

"Hurry up, you brat!" Adams yelled from in front of the car. "I have things to do other than wait around for you all day!" 

Alex took a deep breath, trying--and failing--to calm his nerves. Turning around, he followed his social worker to the grand door of the too-big house.


	2. Chapter 2 - Martha Washington

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events leading up to and occurring in chapter one, told from the perspective of Martha Washington.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was disappointed in myself at the length of the first chapter, so I decided to post this now. This is still kinda too short for my liking, but I wanted to wait until the next chapter for Alex's reaction. At least it's longer than the first chapter :)
> 
> 3-2-2018: Fixed the spacing and a few grammatical errors :D

Martha Washington had wanted children all her life. When she was informed she would never be able to have children, she was full of sorrow. Her dreams of having a large, loving family were crushed. But when her dear husband, in a moment of brilliance, suggested fostering a child, she was overjoyed.

She and her husband had waited for months for Child Services to find a kid to live with them. Finally, they got a call from a man called John Adams. The Washingtons were overjoyed. He had told them he had a troubled kid who needed one last shot. He warned the Washingtons that this boy named Alexander Hamilton had gotten himself into fights at all his previous placements. She didn't care. All she saw was a bright young man in need of a chance. She saw that he needed someone who didn't care about his past "incidents" as Adams had called them.

\---

"How was your day, George?" Martha cheerfully asked her husband, kissing him as he walked in.

"You seem happy, Martha. What's up?" George questioned with a smile.

"Am I not allowed to be pleased that my beloved husband is home at last?" she asked jokingly.

"You're never this pleasant when I come back from work. Please, tell me so we can be happy together."

"I got a call from Child Services today," Martha finally spilt. She watched happily as a delighted smile spread across her husband's face.

"That's wonderful!" He exclaimed.

"The social worker is going to bring him here tomorrow afternoon," she informed him, smiling widely. "You better be home."

"Of course I will be around, my dearest."

Martha smiled. This was going to be wonderful.

\---

Martha Washington was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mr. Adams. She glanced at the clock. He'll be here soon. Just 10 more minutes.

She heard the door opening, and then the loud footsteps of her husband. Seeing her nervous state, he tried to calm her.

"It'll be fine, Martha dearest," he reassured.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. This was it. The moment where their dreams of having a child might just finally come true. The couple, nervous yet excited, hesitant but more than ready, stood quickly and speed-walked to the front door. Excitedly, they glanced at each other before George swung the door open.

Standing on their front steps were a short, sour-looking man and an even tinier, nervous-looking teenager. 

"Hello," George said softly, addressing the scrawny boy. "You must be Alexander Hamilton. My name is George Washington. This is my wife, Martha. It is truly a pleasure to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr @ sleep-is-for-the-weak  
> Next chapter should be up in the next couple days! Also, please please please inform me of any errors you find, this is unbeta'd.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gets into life with the Washingtons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I stayed up too late writing this last night, but I only sort of regret it now. At least it's long enough to double the length of this fic. Here's an April gift from me!  
> 8/24/17: Went back and fixed some errors

Around 20 seconds after John Adams rang the doorbell, it was opened by a tall and rather intimidating man with a pretty woman who was on the shorter side standing behind him. "Hello," the man said slowly and carefully, as though saying it louder would cause Alex to run away, which, yeah, it probably would. Alex looked down, unable to meet the large and very-much-capable-of-hurting-him man's eyes as he continued speaking in that oddly soft voice that didn't seem to fit him. "You must be Alexander Hamilton," Alex cringed at the sound of his long and fancy sounding name. "My name is George Washington," George Washington? Like the senator? Oh my god. "This is my wife Martha. It is truly a pleasure to meet you." "Well," said Adams said in his loud, uncaring voice. "I should get going, I suppose." He turned and whispered to Alex, so quiet that the Washingtons couldn't hear, "Don't mess this up, you little brat. I hope I never have to see your ugly face again." Adams plastered on a false-looking smile before walking away, leaving Alex to avoid making eye contact with the Washingtons. "Please," began Mrs. Washington. "Come on in." Alex nodded slightly and hesitantly followed her into the rather large and menacing house.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Smiling to herself, Martha Washington led Alexander Hamilton into her house. She was thrilled. She walked into her living room, Alexander and her husband following closely behind. "You look tired. Do you want me to show you to your bedroom so you can get settled in?" She asked, smiling happily. "Okay," Alexander mumbled, sounding unsure of himself. "Follow me," Martha replied. She led the way to the grand staircase and slowly began climbing it.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
The Washingtons seem pretty nice, Alex mused. But you can never tell until after a few days. I wonder how long they'll keep up the act. He's a senator. I'm probably only here to make him look good. He sighed silently as he followed Mrs. Washington up the stairs, carrying his tattered backpack. Alex certainly didn't look like he belonged in this fancy house filled with expensive and probably fragile things. Everything looked so perfect already. You're just going to mess up their perfect life and perfect house with all your stupid problems, a voice inside Alex taunted. He walked extremely carefully, trying to not touch anything and to take up as little space as he possibly could. After climbing the seemingly endless staircase, Alex and Mrs. Washington finally reached the top. There was a large, beautiful window that looked like it had just been cleaned, and hallways heading both directions. Mrs. Washington headed down the hallway to the left. The hallway to the left at the top of the staircase, he told himself. Remember that, Alex. After walking for a few seconds longer, Mrs. Washington stopped in front of a door. "This can be your room, if you don't have any objections," she said cheerfully. "Tomorrow, maybe we can go out shopping and get you some new clothes." "That's not necessary," Alex tried to protest, but Mrs. Washington was stubborn. "Nonsense," she said before he even finished talking. She opened the door to the room. Alex was amazed. "This- This is all for me?" He managed to get out. "Of course, dear. Now, try to get some rest. I'll come get you when dinner is ready." She replied. Alex nodded, and she smiled at him as she left the room.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Wow, was all Alex could think as his gazed around the room. There was a beautiful wooden writing desk against the wall next to a neatly made bed. Against the opposite wall there was a magnificent bookshelf. He walked towards the center of the room in a daze, a turned around slowly, trying to comprehend everything that had happened today. He had gone from punching a rude student who insulted his mother to standing in the middle of the bedroom of his dreams, and it was all his. Suddenly, Alex wondered how long this would last. His life had a tendency to change quickly and without warning, especially when everything was as alright as his life gets. He shook his head to try to steer away from those kinds of thoughts. Thinking negatively gets you nowhere. Realizing that Mrs. Washington was right about him being extremely tired, he decided to try to take a short nap before dinner was ready, like she had suggested.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Alex woke to the feeling of someone lightly tapping his shoulder. He groaned before he remembered where he was. Right. New placement. The Washingtons. He quickly sat up, noticing that the hand that had previously been touching him belonged to Mrs. Washington. "Dinner is ready," she announced. Alex nodded and stood up and began to follow her back downstairs. When he walked into the kitchen behind her, he noticed that Mr. Washington was already sitting down at the table. "Hello," Mr. Washington greeted. "Good evening, sir," he mumbled nervously, sliding into a seat. Mrs. Washington brought three delicious-looking plates of chicken over to the table and laid it down gently before settling into her seat besides Mr. Washington. "Looks delicious as always, dear," he complimented. Mrs. Washington thanked him and then started eating her portion. Mr. Washington followed suit. Alex started picking at his meal, too stressed to have much of an appetite. He made sure he at least had a few bites so the Washingtons wouldn't think he was ungrateful. There was an awkward silence at the dinner table as the trio started to finish up their food. "How are you settling in?" Asked Mr. Washington, trying to break the silence. "W-well," replied Alex. "Well what?" Inquired Mr. Washington. "Well, as i-in I'm s-settling in well," he answered. "Ah. Good." Mrs. Washington stood up with her empty plate in her hand, and Mr. Washington and Alex followed suit. After cleaning his plate, Alex glanced at the clock on the wall. 8:08 PM, it read. "I-I'm tired," Alex informed the Washingtons. "Alright," Mrs. Washington replied, "Goodnight, Alexander." "Alex," he practically whispered. "What was that?" Asked Mr. Washington. "I-I prefer A-Alex," he said, slightly louder this time. "Okay," said Mrs. Washington. "Goodnight, Alex," she corrected with a smile. Alex walked quickly up the stairs, down the hallway, and into his room. As he crawled into his new, comfortable bed, he wondered to himself how long this would last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Next chapter will hopefully be up and the next week, and also hopefully as long as or longer than this one.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex's first morning with the Washingtons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to take this long, but my mother has been complaining about how much I'm on my computer, so that's been a bit problematic. And also I'm just terrible. Sorry! Enjoy the chapter :)

The wind was howling. The water was rushing. The sky was dark. Everywhere, screams and cries of desperate people, loud and piercing, could be heard. Alex woke up suddenly to the sound of thunder booming. He looked around, disoriented, before realizing where he was. He desperately hoped he hadn't made any noises in the night and woken the Washingtons up, or they'd surely get rid of him. Looking at the clock, Alex realized that it was 3:30 AM. After debating whether to go back to sleep or not, he decided to try to stay awake so the hurricane wouldn't trigger any more nightmares. However, he soon closed his eyes for a minute, and was immediately back to sleep and surrounded, once again, by memories of the storm that turned his world upside down.  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
When Alex woke up again at a more reasonable time, he was covered in sweat, but at least he had slept for a few more hours. Looking out the window, he could see that the storm had slowed during the night, but it was still raining lightly and silently. Alex realized that he wasn't going back to sleep, and he would have to face the Washingtons again. After a few minutes, the sound of heavy footsteps and quiet voices could be heard in the hallway outside his bedroom. He rolled out of bed tiredly, figuring that if the Washingtons were up and about, it was an acceptable time to get out of bed. Grabbing a change of clothes out of his bag, he quickly got dressed, contemplating what to do next. He decided to go downstairs now to deal with the first-morning awkwardness with the Washingtons. Opening his door, he tried not to be too loud as he walked through the hallway back towards the staircase. _Come on Alex_ , a voice inside him said. _Don't be weak_. He mustered up all his courage and entered the kitchen. The Washingtons were both sitting at the table, eating pancakes and chatting about something that didn't seem particularly interesting to him. "Good morning, Alex," greeted Mrs. Washington. Alex quietly mumbled a greeting in reply before sitting down. He took a few pancakes for himself and started eating. _Don't eat too fast, they'll think you're disgusting,_  he scolded himself. Eating slowly, he took care with every bite not to make a mess.  
<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~<~  
As she ate, Martha noticed that Alex looked uncomfortable, but she assumed that bringing it up would just make it worse. Her heart ached to see him unhappy. She had just met this boy and was already caring greatly about his happiness. She tried to act casual, and purposely made a little bit of a mess in an attempt to get Alex to relax, but it didn't seem too effective.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Alex ate. He ate more then he ever had eaten before. And there was still food on his plate. He noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Washington seemed to be slowing down. Awkwardly, he sat picking at his remaining food, waiting until the Washingtons finished. Mrs. Washington smiled at him, pushing her chair away from the table. After a few seconds, Alex watched as Mr. Washington did the same. "Is there anything you wanted to do today, dear? It's Sunday, so this is your last free day before school starts," Mrs. Washington asked. Alex shook his head. "Alright, but we really need to go shopping so you have some clothes to wear to school."  
"I don't need anything," Alex mumbled quietly.  
"Of course you need things! Don't you want to make a good first impression on your schoolmates? After all, you'll be with them for a while."  
"I- I guess," he replied.  
"Great! Let's go shopping!" Mrs. Washington stood up, and after a moment's hesitation, Alex stood up as well. _This is a disaster just waiting to happen._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to say the next update will be quicker, but I don't want to lie to you. You can keep up with me on tumblr at sleep-is-for-the-weak.tumblr.com  
> Also, I will be going back to the previous chapters and making edits to them, so please please please if you notice anything point it out to me.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~xPhoenix


	5. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Martha go shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An unknown creature emerges from the forest. Readers wonder what it might be. Closer examination reveals that it is an update to Young, Scrappy, and Hungry, a species previously thought to be extinct.  
> \---  
> I did say I would be back. Enjoy!

Alex uncomfortably perched on the edge of the seat, Martha driving along unconcerned. This was going to be a long drive.

———

The twelve minutes seemed to drag on for hours. Alex and Martha sat in awkward silence through the traffic. He could sense that Martha wanted to say something, to break the silence, but something was stopping her.

 

They pulled into the parking lot, the giant figure of the mall looming before them. “Holy-“ Alex had to cut himself off from swearing. The sheer size of the building surprised him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

 

 “Pretty cool, isn’t it,” Martha remarked casually.

 

“Yeah,” Alex gasped out.

 

Martha smiled and led the way into the building.

———

Alex discovered that he wasn’t fond of shopping. His blood pressure rose at the same time as the price of their purchases. Everything Martha added to the growing pile in her arms was an added source of stress for Alex.

 

Martha seemed nice enough for now, but Alex wondered grimly what tomorrow would bring. They loaded the shopping bags into the trunk of the car and drove back to the Washington’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hopefully there'll be another update by April 2018, but no promises


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this chapter up quicker than I expected, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this pace!

“So,” Martha began as she sat down next to Alex. He immediately looked up, trying for a smile. 

“Yeah?”  
  
“School is starting back up again soon.”  
  
Alex used to like school. He loved learning new things, and reading, and everything great about school. But the kids…

Yeah. Alex didn’t like the kids. Kids are nasty creatures, always making judgements, never forgiving, relentlessly digging into your past until they find something to hold over you.

Well, that might be a little over-dramatic, but it was mostly true. Nobody liked Alex, and even if they did, they wouldn’t want to be friends with him, or even be nice to him, because making friends with the orphan immigrant is most certainly not good for your reputation.

Martha was still looking at him weirdly. “Alex?”  
  
“Oh, um, school. Right.” He laughed nervously.

“To enroll you, I have to go meet with the principal. You can either come with me, or I can go alone.”  
  
Shit. Alex had two equally unappealing options.  
  
He could stay home, and have some very nice alone time, but he would have to deal with George when he got back. Or, he could go with Martha, but he would have to deal with her for another while, and also try to make a good first impression with the principal.

Alex was doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! I'll be back in a couple months.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Alex sat in the car next to Martha, trying to make himself look as small as possible.

Martha tried to smile comfortingly at him, but only succeeded at making him feel even more uncomfortable.

“You’ll be fine,” she reassured him.

Alex laughed internally. Externally, he just smiled awkwardly.

They pulled up at the school and he took a deep breath before sliding out of the car.

———

The meeting with the principal went slightly better than expected. Alex just quietly sat in the corner while Martha went over the paperwork with the principal. He answered questions when asked, and otherwise stayed silent.

Now, he was back in the car with Martha, and they were on their way home.

He sat up a little straighter than before.


End file.
